When I was about 18 or 19 years old, during my more promiscuous days,I thought that I had caught 'the Clap', or something just as distasteful. I had all of, what I thought, were the symptoms and went, very red faced, to the doctor. After about a week I had my results. A kidney infection. But believe me, that kidney infection has made me aware of the risks involved in such a natural act.
So. What are the odds of catching an STD
? Well,it depends.It depends on which disease is being transmitted and who
it's being transmitted to. The odds are as high as 50 percent in some cases.
For example, if a woman has unprotected sex with a man who has gonorrhea,
she has a 50 percent risk of becoming infected. In the opposite case, the
risk is 30 percent. In fact, in nearly all cases, women are more likely to
become infected by carrying males than men are to be infected by carrying
females. The risk for younger women and, perhaps, for women who use birth
control pills, may be even higher. To worsen the situation, some diseases,
such as chlamydia, may not produce symptoms in a man, even though he can pass
the disease to his partner.
The statistics look like this:
Risk of Infection (%) from One Unprotected Encounter
| STD | MEN | WOMEN |
| Genital Herpes | 30% | 30% |
| Gonorrhea | 25% | 50% |
| Chlamydia | 20% | 40% |
| Syphilis | 20% | 30% |
| Chancroid | 15% | 30% |
| Genital Warts | 10% | 10% |
| Hepatitis B | 5% | 10% |
| HIV | .9% | 1% |
You could look at these numbers and figure guys get off lucky. What I see, however, is responsibility. If you fool around and get infected, the odds of you infecting your spouse are very high, with potentially devastating effects. Either of you could become sterile, and your partner may suffer from chronic severe pain or develop cervical cancer. The days are over when sexually transmitted diseases were minor health problems that could be cured with a dose of antibiotics. Only two of the eight on this list respond readily to medication, and even those are developing resistance. Today, the old saying that a one-night stand can last a lifetime has more than one meaning.
Monogamy is the best form of disease protection, but if you wander, cover up.
Godsquid
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